Storm Damage

The whirring sound of the village’s “Bandit Intimidator” wood chipper is being heard throughout Cooperstown today, as crews, including Assistant DPW Superintendent Chris Satriano, above, finish the cleanup after Saturday’s thunderstorm. Heavy rains and wind struck shortly before 6 p.m. for only a minute or two, but wreaked outsized damage. Among the homes narrowly escaping serious damage is Celia Lamb’s on Linden Avenue, inset. The storm knocked over an oak slightly to the north of the house, leveraged up the sidewalk, but beyond that even missed a birdhouse in its path. “We were very fortunate,” Mrs. Lamb said. “It missed the house, it missed the car and it missed the trailer” that a tenant rents. (Jim Kevlin/AllOTSEGO.com)

Landlord Mike Hubbs surveys the damage to a tree in front of 36 Grove St. in Oneonta that was struck by lightening earlier this evening. The strike was so intense that it sent bark and debris into the wood and onto the roof of houses down the street. The Oneonta Fire Department and NYSEG have responded, and the road is temporarily closed. It’s the second weather-related road closure Grove Street has seen this week; on Sunday, a sudden storm blew down a tree, taking down wires and closing the street for several hours. (Ian Austin/AllOTSEGO.com)